-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- A leader of the defeated Tamil Tiger rebel group has been arrested in Bangkok , Thailand , state television in Sri Lanka reported Thursday .

Selvarasa Padmanathan , also known as KP , was the `` self-appointed ... leader and chief arms dealer '' of the Tamil Tigers , according to Lankapuvath , the national news agency of Sri Lanka . It also reported the arrest , citing the Sri Lankan government information department .

The Sri Lankan military defeated the Tamil Tigers this year . The rebel group is formally known as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam . It fought a 25-year war seeking an independent state for minority Tamils in Sri Lanka . At least 70,000 were killed .

Remnants of the battered Tamil Tiger group decided in July that Padmanathan would `` lead us into the next steps of our freedom struggle , '' according to a published account .

That happened after the Sri Lankan military killed the group 's long-time leader , Velupillai Prabhakaran , in the final days of a bloody offensive that ended the war .

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Selvarasa Padmanathan was `` self-appointed leader Tamil Tigers ''

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Sri Lankan military defeated the Tamil Tigers this year

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Tigers fought a 25-year war seeking an independent state for minority